Route-biased search

ABSTRACT

A route-biased search in a mobile navigation system locates points of interest (POI) on or convenient to a mobile user&#39;s current travel. The route-biased search operates in two modes, navigation and non-navigation. The navigation mode identifies the most convenient POIs that honor the mobile user&#39;s route to their destination. The non-navigation mode identifies the most convenient POIs that are located ahead of the user based on the user&#39;s inferred direction of travel. The route-biased search determines the best possible routes to the identified POIs taking into account the impact of the detour costs of traveling to the POI along with other ranking factors.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date ofprovisional Application Ser. No. 62/348,810, filed on Jun. 10, 2016entitled ROUTE-BIASED SEARCH.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to mobilenavigation systems. More particularly, embodiments of the inventionrelate to navigation searches in mobile navigation systems.

BACKGROUND

Mobile navigation systems in location-aware devices are now common.Mobile device navigation and car navigation systems have grown inpopularity with the ability to provide up-to-date navigation informationand visual map-based navigation aids to users en route.

Searching for particular points of interest (POIs) and alternate routeswhile en route can present problems in navigation systems because of theneed to adjust the results based on the user's location. A commonapproach is to use a spatial search, such as for POIs within a certainradius of a current location. This approach cannot always return thebest search results. Among other shortcomings, it fails to take intoaccount the user's route, intended destination or the direction oftravel.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

Methods, processes, apparatus, machine-readable tangible storage media,and data processing systems are described for a route-biased search in amobile navigation system. In a navigation system on a mobile device, aroute-biased search helps a user find out what points of interest (POI)are on or convenient to their original route, and to display one or moreside routes to those POIs that honor the original route wheneverpossible taking into account the current route conditions, e.g. trafficand road closures, and the type of the POI, e.g. restaurants vs gasstations.

According to one embodiment, instead of a conventional spatial search,such as for POIs within a certain radius of a current location, theroute-biased search factors in the user's original route to generatesearch result POIs.

In one embodiment, using a single unified ranking algorithm, detourcosts of search result POI'S is an additional ranking signal that istaken into account along with all other ranking factors, e.g.popularity, reviews, rating, etc. to determine the best search resultPOIs to present to the user. Thus, the ranking algorithm is more likelyto rank a POI with optimal detour costs as better than a POI withoutoptimal detour costs in situations where all other ranking factors arecomparable.

In one embodiment, the route-biased search operates in two differentmodes: a navigation mode, in which the user's original route is to aknown destination, and a non-navigation mode, in which the user'soriginal route is estimated/inferred based on the user's direction oftravel from a historical reference point but without a knowndestination.

In one embodiment, the user's original route characteristics influencethe search result POIs. For example, when factoring in the user'soriginal route to generate the search result POIs, the route-biasedsearch can take into account a prior location of the user that precedesa route decision point to ensure that POIs with potentially optimaldetour costs that require some backtracking are considered. Othercharacteristics associated with the original route that are taken intoaccount in the route-biased search include the speed of travel (walkingvs. driving) and the type of road (highway vs. local road).Additionally, query-level characteristics such as the specific category(e.g. gas vs. restaurants) are also taken into account to bias resultsclose to the user or optimize the detour cost.

In one embodiment, while in navigation mode, the route-biased searchobtains detour costs associated with search result POIs by combining theestimated time of arrival (ETA) from the user's location to a POI withthe ETA from the POI to the known destination, and comparing thecombined ETA to the ETA from the user's location directly to the knowndestination.

In one embodiment, while in non-navigation mode, the route-biased searchcombines the ETA from a historical reference point, also referred to asa prior location, earlier in the user's journey to the user's currentlocation and from the user's current location to the POI. In oneembodiment, the non-navigation mode of operation is typicallyconditioned on the user traveling beyond a speed threshold to ensurethat there is a strong sense of the user's direction of travel to avoidfalse positives. To obtain the detour cost the combined ETA is comparedto the ETA from the historical reference point directly to the POI.

In one embodiment, once the POIs have been located using theroute-biased search and their detour costs determined, the detour costis included in the single unified ranking algorithm when re-ranking thesearch result POIs. Detour cost is an important ranking signal into theunified ranking algorithm.

In a one embodiment, the proximity of the POI to the user's currentlocation and other factors are also taken in to account to avoidreturning POIs that have optimal small detour costs, but are fartheraway or less popular. For this reason, a POI with a higher detour costcould still be ranked over a POI with an optimal small detour costbecause of much higher popularity, or because it is closer to the user'scurrent location. In one embodiment, the category of the POI can furtherinfluence the ranking. For example the gas station category POIs may beranked higher when closure to the user's current location, whereas therestaurant category POIs with higher popularity may be ranked ahead ofother closer restaurants that are less popular.

Other features of the present invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary user interface of a mobile deviceaccessing a route-biased search in a mobile navigation system inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram overview of a route-biased search in a mobilenavigation system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3A-3B and 4A-4B are diagrammatic overviews of ETA calculations ina route-biased search in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic overview of partitioning a route into segmentsfor performing a route-biased search operating in navigation mode inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic overview of selecting a user's historicallocation for performing a route-biased search in non-navigation mode inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate exemplary search results in a route-biased searchoperating in non-navigation mode in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate routes generated in a route-biased searchoperating in navigation (FIG. 8A) and non-navigation (FIG. 8B) modes inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 9-12 are flow diagrams of exemplary process logic for aroute-biased search in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a typical computer system that can be usedin implementing a route-biased search in a mobile navigation system inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods, processes, apparatus, machine-readable tangible storage media,and data processing systems are described for a route-biased search in amobile navigation system are described herein. In the followingdescription, numerous specific details are set forth to provide thoroughexplanation of embodiments of the present invention. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known components, structures, and techniques havenot been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding ofthis description.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment can be included in at least oneembodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarilyall refer to the same embodiment.

The processes depicted in the figures that follow represent processinglogic comprising hardware (e.g. circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.),software (such as is run on a general-purpose computer system or adedicated machine), or a combination of both. Although the processes aredescribed below in terms of some sequential operations, it should beappreciated that some of the operations described may be performed indifferent order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallelrather than sequentially.

Unlike a conventional spatial search carried out in mobile navigationsystem, embodiments of the present invention factor in the user'soriginal route or direction of travel to generate search result POIs,referred to herein as a route-biased search.

A route-biased search has a number of advantages over a conventionalspatial search when searching for points of interest (POI) along theuser's route in the context of mobile navigation. The quality of thesearch results are improved both in the selection of suitable POIs aswell as in providing useful information about detour costs associatedwith side trips to a POI.

In one embodiment, the route-biased search can be used in conjunctionwith a single unified searching algorithm that factors in such things asthe user's personal preferences, user history, and other personalinformation data. Other advantages include embodiments that performroute-biased searches when the user is not navigating to a particulardestination, referred to herein as non-navigation mode, as well as whenthe user is navigating to a known destination, referred to herein asnavigation mode.

With regard to the user's personal information data, the presentdisclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data, inthe present technology, can be used to the benefit of users. Forexample, the personal information data can be used to deliver targetedcontent that is of greater interest to the user. Accordingly, use ofsuch personal information data enables calculated control of thedelivered content. Further, other uses for personal information datathat benefit the user are also contemplated by the present disclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the entitiesresponsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage,or other use of such personal information data will comply withwell-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. Inparticular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacypolicies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting orexceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personalinformation data private and secure.

For example, personal information from users should be collected forlegitimate and reasonable uses of the entity and not shared or soldoutside of those legitimate uses. Further, such collection should occuronly after receiving the informed consent of the users. Additionally,such entities would take any needed steps for safeguarding and securingaccess to such personal information data and ensuring that others withaccess to the personal information data adhere to their privacy policiesand procedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves toevaluation by third parties to certify their adherence to widelyaccepted privacy policies and practices.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof advertisement delivery services, the present technology can beconfigured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” ofparticipation in the collection of personal information data duringregistration for services. In another example, users can select not toprovide location information for targeted content delivery services. Inyet another example, users can select to not provide precise locationinformation, but permit the transfer of location zone information.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary user interface of a mobile deviceaccessing a route-biased search in a mobile navigation system inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, a mobiledevice, such as an iPhone or other mobile computing device is configuredto operate a mobile navigation system with a graphical user interface(GUI) presenting a user with a mobile navigation interface, as depictedin the three illustrated interfaces. In the first illustrated interfacethe user is presented with their current navigation route and their ETA.In the second illustrated interface the user has activated a controlpanel on the touch interface to reveal options for searching for pointsof interest to a mobile user, such as gas stations, parking lots,coffeehouse, and restaurants. Upon activation of the gas station option,the user is presented with the third illustrated interface showing thenearby gas station POIs ranked by their associated detour costs ascompared to the mobile user's original route.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram overview of a route-biased search in a mobilenavigation system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Asshown, in one embodiment, a client device 202, such as the mobile phoneillustrated in FIG. 1, activates a route-biased search, causing theclient 202 to access a search process 206 via network 204. The searchprocess 206 determines an initial set of POIs responsive to the mobileuser's search, and initiates an ETA request 210 in order to begin theroute-biased search in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

In one embodiment, a routing process 208, responsive to the ETA request210, returns to the search process 206 an ETA response 212, therebyenabling the search process 206 to begin the route-biased search basedon the ETA, as will be described in further detail below. Once thesearch process 206 completes the route-biased search and returns thesearch result POIs, a re-ranker process 214 applies a single unifiedranking algorithm to the search result POIs, where the ranking algorithmincludes the detour costs for each of the search result POIs as oneranking factor.

After the search process 206 and re-ranking 214 processes are complete,the search POI results are displayed on the user's mobile device inranking order, typically in conjunction with a map display of the POIs.Once the results of the route-biased search are made available to themobile device user, the user can initiate direction requests and receivedirection responses from the routing process 208.

FIGS. 3A-3B and 4A-4B are diagrammatic overviews of ETA calculations ina route-biased search in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.As noted in FIG. 2, the search process requests an ETA for the initialset of POIs from the routing process.

FIGS. 3A-3B, by way of example only, is a diagram illustrating the routefor the ETA calculation when the mobile user initiates a route-biasedsearch in a navigation mode of operation. In the navigation mode ofoperation, the route the user is taking is known and references adestination. The user's current location is designated with a U and theknown destination is designated with an R because it is considered areference point for route and detour cost calculations. The point ofinterest, or POI, for which routes, ETA signals and detour costs arecomputed is designated with a P.

FIGS. 4A-4B, by way of example only, is a diagram illustrating the routefor the ETA calculation when the mobile user initiates a route-biasedsearch in a non-navigation mode of operation. In contrast to navigationmode, in the non-navigation mode of operation, the route the user istaking is not known, but the direction of travel can be gleaned fromcomparisons of one or more historical locations that the user frequentedprior to arriving at the user's current location. The user's currentlocation is again designated with a U and the user's historical locationis designated with an R because in non-navigation mode the user'shistorical location is used as a reference point in lieu of a knowndestination. The POI for which routes, ETA signals and detour costs arecomputed is designated with a P.

In one embodiment, when operating in navigation mode FIG. 3A/3B, an ETAbetween the user's current location U and POI P is added to the ETA fromP to the original destination/reference point R to yield a combined ETA.The combined ETA is compared to the ETA directly from the user's currentlocation U to reference point R. If the combined ETA is comparable tothe original route ETA, then the POI is determined to have a good ETAsignal. If, however, the combined ETA is not comparable to the originalroute ETA, then the POI P is determined to have a poor ETA signal. Thedifference in the combined ETA considered to be comparable can beadjusted to take into account such characteristics as the user's speed,length of route, and the like. For example, the differences between thecombined ETA and original route ETA can be fairly small when comparingETAs for nearby POIs in densely populated areas and larger whencomparing ETAs for distant POIs in rural areas.

In one embodiment, when operating in non-navigation mode, theroute-biased search ETA calculation varies from that for navigation modein that the reference point R for purpose of ETA calculations is thehistorical location of the user. The combined ETA is the ETA between Rand U and between U to the POI P. The combined ETA is compared to theETA between R and the POI P. If the difference is large, then the POI Pis determined to have a poor ETA signal. As in navigation mode, thedifferences in the combined ETA considered to be comparable can beadjusted to take into account such characteristics as the user's speed,length of route, and the like. For example, the differences between thecombined ETA and the ETA between R and P can be fairly small whencomparing ETAs for nearby POIs in densely populated areas and largerwhen comparing ETAs for distant POIs in rural areas.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic overview of partitioning an original route intosegments while in navigation mode. Partitioning the user's originalroute to their known destination enables the route-biased search tohonor that route when searching for POIs in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. For example, in FIG. 5, an algorithm forhonoring the user's route in a navigation mode of operation includespartitioning the original route from the user's current location U tothe known destination at reference point R into multiple segments basedon proximity to deviation points 502 a/502 b/502 c. Once the segmentshave been partitioned, the route-biased search computes all possibleroutes to one or more POIs, e.g. P₁ and P₂, skipping no more than twosegments of the user's original route in order to generate routes thathonor the original route as much as possible.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic overview of selecting an historical location touse as a reference point while in non-navigation mode. A selectionprocess selects a location from one of a set of prior user locations (AB C) 604 relative to the current location D 606 of the user. The set ofprior user locations is used to determine the direction of travel, whilethe selected location A 608 can be used during the route-biased searchto identify POIs that are ahead of the user's current location. In oneembodiment, the process for selecting the historical location to use asa reference point is based on the presence of a route decision point,such as intersection 602. Selecting the historical location preceding atleast one such route decision point, if available, allows theroute-biased search to compute the best possible routes to POIs while innon-navigation mode that might not otherwise be computed, becausesometimes the best route to a POI may involve backtracking from thecurrent location to the earlier route decision point.

FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate exemplary search results using a route-biasedsearch in non-navigation mode. In the illustrated example, FIG. 7Adepicts the current user location U 701 of a user that is travelingtoward Santa Cruz from San Jose. Without a route-biased search the POIsA, B, C, D, E and F returned from a conventional search are locatedaround the user's current location without regard to the user'sdirection of travel. In contrast, FIG. 7B depicts the route-biasedsearch results of POIs F, G, H, I and J, all of which are ahead of theuser's current location U, as determined based on the user's historicallocation X 702 as a reference point R.

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate examples of routes to POIs in a route-biasedsearch in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 8A, anexample search for routes to POIs that honor the user's route in aroute-biased search operating in navigation mode is illustrated. Thereare four POIs, A, B, C, and D identified as having good ETAs along theoriginal route from the user's current location U to the knowndestination/reference point R. In one embodiment, the route-biasedsearch computes the four possible routes to the POIs and then to theknown destination R, and determines which of the four provide the bestalternatives in terms of detour costs that honor the user's originalroute to R based on the ETAs to each POI. For example, the POIs A and Ccould be determined to be POIs that the user could detour toimmediately, POI B is the most distant, and POI D is a moderate detour.

In FIG. 8B, an example search for routes to POIs ahead of the user'scurrent location in a route-biased search operating in non-navigationmode is illustrated. There are two POIs, B and D identified as POIsahead of the user's current location based on the direction of travel,and a third POI A behind the user's current location, where thedirection of travel is determined based on the user's historicallocation, reference point R 802 b, and the current user location U 801b. In one embodiment, using the reference point R, the route-biasedsearch computes the best possible routes to the POIs and back to thecurrent location U, and determines which routes to the identified POIsprovide the best alternatives in terms of detour costs.

FIGS. 9-12 are flow diagrams summarizing exemplary process logic for aroute-biased search for points of interest in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. In FIG. 9, a route-biased mobile search at902 receives a request to search for POIs. At decision block 904, themode of operation is determined to be navigation mode or non-navigationmode. Process 906 is performed to identify POIs in navigation mode, asdescribed in detail in FIG. 10. Process 908 is performed to identifyPOIs in non-navigation mode, as described in detail in FIG. 11. Once thePOIs are identified, the route biased search logic performs a process tocompute the detour costs for the identified POIs, as described in detailin FIG. 12. Once the detour costs have been computed, the route biasedsearch logic re-ranks the POIs by detour cost at 912 and presents theranked POIs to the user at 914.

In FIG. 10, the process 1000 to identify POIs in navigation mode beginsat 1002 by partitioning the route into segments based on deviationpoints in the route. At 1004, the process commences a routine to computeall possible routes to a POI search result from a conventional search,and determines whether there are routes to that POI that honor theoriginal route by skipping no more than two segments of the originalroute. If there are routes to that POI that do honor the original route,then at 1006, the process determines the shortest routes to that POIfrom the POI's ETA signal. At 1008 the process returns the routesdetermined to be the shortest routes to the route-biased search process900 in FIG. 9 for further processing. At 1010, the process is repeateduntil the shortest routes to all identified POIs that honor the originalroute have been determined. POIs for which no routes honor the originalroute are discarded.

In FIG. 11, the process 1100 to identify POIs in non-navigation modebegins at 1102 by obtaining a set of the user's prior locations beforethe user requested the search for POIs. At 1104, the process selects anhistorical location from the set of prior user locations. In oneembodiment, the set of prior user locations spans one or more deviationpoints for determining routes to POIs. Whenever possible, the selectedhistorical location precedes at least one of the deviation points withinthe set of prior user locations, such as the last intersection traversedby the user, to allow computation of the best possible routes toidentified POIs. At 1106, the process identifies those POIs returned bya conventional search that are located ahead of the user's currentlocation based on a direction of travel ascertained from the user'scurrent location compared to the selected historical location. At 1108,the process commences a routine to determine the shortest routes to eachidentified POI located ahead of the user's current location based on thePOIs ETA signal, and at process 1110 returns the routes determined to bethe shortest routes to the route-biased search process 900 in FIG. 9 forfurther processing. At 1112, the process is repeated until the shortestroutes to all identified POIs located ahead of the user's currentlocation have been determined. POIs that are not located ahead of theuser's current location or POIs to which shortest routes cannot bedetermined are discarded.

In FIG. 12, the process 1200 to compute detour cost for the identifiedPOIs begins with a determination at 1202 of whether the route-biasedsearch is operating in navigation mode or non-navigation mode. Innavigation mode, the process sets the destination location to which theuser is navigating to the reference point for computing detour costs ofall identified POIs. At 1206, the process commences a routine to seteach identified POI as a mid-point, also referred to as a via node,between the current user location U and the reference point R for thepurpose of computing the detour cost of the identified POI. At process1208 the process computes the detour cost of an identified POI using themid-point and reference point settings. At 1210, the process is repeateduntil detour costs for all identified POIs have been computed.

In FIG. 12, in non-navigation mode, the process sets the selectedhistorical location to the reference point for the purpose of computingthe detour costs of all identified POIs. At 1207, the process sets thecurrent user location as the mid point, or via node, between eachidentified POI and the reference point for the purpose of computingdetour costs of all identified POIs. At 1208, the process commences aroutine to compute the detour cost of an identified POI using themid-point, or via node, and reference point settings. At 1210, theprocess repeats until detour costs for all identified POIs have beencomputed.

Any one of the methods described herein can be implemented on a varietyof different data processing devices, including general-purpose computersystems, special purpose computer systems, etc. For example, the dataprocessing systems that may use any one of the methods described hereinmay include a desktop computer or a laptop computer or a tablet computeror a smart phone, or a cellular telephone, or a personal digitalassistant (PDA), an embedded electronic device or a consumer electronicdevice.

FIG. 13 shows one example of a typical data processing system that maybe used with the present invention. Note that while FIG. 13 illustratesthe various components of a data processing system, such as a computersystem, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture ormanner of interconnecting the components as such details are not germaneto the present invention. It will also be appreciated that other typesof data processing systems that have fewer components than shown or morecomponents than shown in FIG. 13 may also be used with the presentinvention. The data processing system of FIG. 13 may be, for example, aniOS device such as an iPhone, or a Macintosh computer from Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.

As shown in FIG. 13, the data processing system 1300 includes one ormore buses 1302 that serve to interconnect the various components of thesystem. One or more processors 1303 are coupled to the one or more buses1302 as is known in the art. Memory 1305 may be DRAM or non-volatile RAMor may be flash memory or other types of memory. This memory is coupledto the one or more buses 1302 using techniques known in the art.

The data processing system 1300 can also include non-volatile memory1307 that may be a hard disk drive or a flash memory or a magneticoptical drive or magnetic memory or an optical drive or other types ofmemory systems that maintain data even after power is removed from thesystem. The non-volatile memory 1307 and the memory 1305 are bothcoupled to the one or more buses 1302 using known interfaces andconnection techniques.

A display controller 1304 is coupled to the one or more buses 1302 inorder to receive display data to be displayed on a display device 1309which can display any one of the user interface features or embodimentsdescribed herein. The display device 1309 can include an integratedtouch input to provide a touch screen.

The data processing system 1300 can also include one or moreinput/output (I/O) controllers 1308 which provide interfaces for one ormore I/O devices, such as one or more mice, touch screens, touch pads,joysticks, and other input devices including those known in the art andoutput devices (e.g. speakers). The input/output devices 1309 arecoupled through one or more I/O controllers 1308 as is known in the art.

While FIG. 13 shows that the non-volatile memory 1307 and the memory1305 are coupled to the one or more buses 1302 directly rather thanthrough a network interface, it will be appreciated that the dataprocessing system may utilize a non-volatile memory which is remote fromthe system, such as a network storage device which is coupled to thedata processing system through a network interface such as a modem orEthernet interface or wireless interface, such as a wireless WiFitransceiver or a wireless cellular telephone transceiver or acombination of such transceivers.

As is known in the art, the one or more buses 1302 may include one ormore bridges or controllers or adapters to interconnect between variousbuses. In one embodiment, the I/O controller 1308 includes a USB adapterfor controlling USB peripherals and can control an Ethernet port or awireless transceiver or combination of wireless transceivers.

It will be apparent from this description that aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied, at least in part, in software. That is, thetechniques and methods described herein may be carried out in a dataprocessing system in response to its processor executing a sequence ofinstructions contained in a tangible, non-transitory memory such as thememory 1305 or the non-volatile memory 1307 or a combination of suchmemories, and each of these memories is a form of a machine readable,tangible storage medium. In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry maybe used in combination with software instructions to implement thepresent invention. Thus the techniques are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software or to any particularsource for the instructions executed by the data processing system.

Portions of what was described above may be implemented with logiccircuitry such as a dedicated logic circuit or with a microcontroller orother form of processing core that executes program code instructions.Thus processes taught by the discussion above could be performed withprogram code such as machine-executable instructions that cause amachine that executes these instructions to perform certain functions.In this context, a “machine” may be a machine that converts intermediateform (or “abstract”) instructions into processor specific instructions(e.g. an abstract execution environment such as a “virtual machine”(e.g. a Java Virtual Machine), an interpreter, a Common LanguageRuntime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc.), and/or,electronic circuitry disposed on a semiconductor chip (e.g. “logiccircuitry” implemented with transistors) designed to executeinstructions such as a general-purpose processor and/or aspecial-purpose processor. Processes taught by the discussion above mayalso be performed by (in the alternative to a machine or in combinationwith a machine) electronic circuitry designed to perform the processes(or a portion thereof) without the execution of program code.

An article of manufacture may be used to store program code. An articleof manufacture that stores program code may be embodied as, but is notlimited to, one or more memories (e.g. one or more flash memories,random access memories (static, dynamic or other)), optical disks,CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or othertype of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronicinstructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer(e.g. a server) to a requesting computer (e.g. a client) by way of datasignals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g. via a communication link(e.g. a network connection)).

The term “memory” as used herein is intended to encompass all volatilestorage media, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and staticRAM (SRAM). Computer-executable instructions can be stored onnon-volatile storage devices 1306, such as magnetic hard disk, anoptical disk, and are typically written, by a direct memory accessprocess, into memory during execution of software by a processor. One ofskill in the art will immediately recognize that the term“machine-readable storage medium” includes any type of volatile ornon-volatile storage device that is accessible by a processor.

The preceding detailed descriptions are presented in terms of algorithmsand symbolic representations of operations on data bits within acomputer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations arethe tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be aself-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. Theoperations are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be kept in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, itis appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructedfor the required purpose, or it may comprise a general-purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type ofdisk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, andmagnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), RAMs, EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer systembus.

The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specializedapparatus to perform the operations described. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will be evident from the descriptionbelow. In addition, the present invention is not described withreference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciatedthat a variety of programming languages may be used to implement theteachings of the invention as described herein.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for mobilesearching using a navigation application, the method comprising: in amobile device: determining a route being followed by a user of themobile device, the route represented in a navigation applicationoperating on the mobile device, wherein the navigation application isoperating a non-navigation mode with no destination entry by the userand wherein the route is determined based on a moving direction of theuser; setting a reference point for the route, wherein the referencepoint is a point other than a route departure point of the route;identifying one or more points of interest (POIs) having estimated timeof arrival ETA signals comparable to the route being followed based onthe reference point and the user's current location; computing a detourcost associated with each of the one or more identified POIs, whereinthe detour cost is computed using the reference point; including thedetour cost as a ranking signal when re-ranking the one or more POIsusing a single unified ranking algorithm; and presenting to the user ofthe mobile device the one or more ranked POIs and associated detourcosts.
 2. The computer-implemented method as in claim 1, furthercomprising: setting the reference point for the route being followed toa historical location of the user when operating in non-navigation mode;and setting the reference point for the route being followed to adestination location of the user when operating in navigation mode. 3.The computer-implemented method as in claim 2, wherein setting thereference point for the route being followed to a historical location ofthe user includes: obtaining a set of prior locations of the user;determining the route being followed by the user based on the set ofprior locations and the user's current location; identifying any one ormore deviation points in the route being followed by the user within theset of prior locations; selecting from the set of prior locations ahistorical location that precedes at least one of the identifieddeviation points; and setting the reference point for the route beingfollowed to the historical location.
 4. The computer-implemented methodas in claim 1, further comprising: determining that the navigationapplication operating on the mobile device is in navigation mode afteroperating in the non-navigation mode; determining the route beingfollowed by the user of the mobile device based on a predetermined routefor navigating to a known destination; and setting the reference pointto the known destination.
 5. A mobile navigation system, the systemcomprising: a mobile device configured with a mobile navigationapplication, the mobile device in communication with a navigation serverduring operation of the mobile navigation application, the navigationserver having a processor configured to: determine a route beingfollowed by a user of the mobile device, the route represented in anavigation application operating on the mobile device, wherein thenavigation application is operating a non-navigation mode with nodestination entry by the user and wherein the route is determined basedon a moving, direction of the user; set a reference point for the route,wherein the reference point is a point other than a route departurepoint of the route; identify one or more points of interest (POIs)having estimated time of arrival ETA signals comparable to the routebeing followed based on the reference point and the user's currentlocation; compute a detour cost associated with each of the one or moreidentified POIs, wherein the detour cost is computed using the referencepoint; include the detour cost as a ranking signal when re-ranking theone or more POIs using a single unified ranking algorithm; and transmitto the mobile device the one or more ranked POIs and associated detourcosts.
 6. The mobile navigation system as in claim 5, the processorfurther configured to: set the reference point for the route beingfollowed to a historical location of the user when operating innon-navigation mode; and set the reference point for the route beingfollowed to a destination location of the user when operating innavigation mode.
 7. The mobile navigation system as in claim 6, whereinto set the reference point for the route being followed to a historicallocation of the user, the processor is further configured to: obtain aset of prior locations of the user; determine the route being followedby the user based on the set of prior locations and the user's currentlocation; identify any one or more deviation points in the route beingfollowed by the user within the set of prior locations; select from theset of prior locations a historical location that precedes at least oneof the identified deviation points; and set the reference point for theroute being followed to the historical location.
 8. The mobilenavigation system as in claim 6, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: determine that the navigation application operating onthe mobile device is in navigation mode after operating in thenon-navigation mode; determine the route being followed by the user ofthe mobile device based on a predetermined route for navigating to aknown destination; and set the reference point to the known destination.9. The mobile navigation system as in claim 8, wherein to identify oneor more points of interest (POIs) having estimated time of arrival ETAsignals comparable to the route being followed, is to: partition theroute being followed by the user into segments based on deviation pointsin the route; compute all possible routes from and to the user's currentlocation and each identified POI, skipping no more than two segments ofthe route being followed; determine shortest routes to each POI; andidentify which of the shortest routes have ETA signals comparable to theETA signal of the route being followed.
 10. The mobile navigation systemas in claim 5, wherein to compute the detour cost based on the ETAsignal for the POI, the processor is further configured to: determinethat the navigation application operating on the mobile device is innon-navigation mode; combine a first ETA from the reference point to theuser's current location with a second ETA from the user's currentlocation to the POI; compare the combined ETA with a reference ETA fromthe reference point to the POI; and compute the detour cost based on howmuch the combined ETA exceeds the reference ETA.
 11. The mobilenavigation system as in claim 5, wherein to compute the detour costbased on the ETA signal for the POI, the processor is further configuredto: determine that the navigation application operating on the mobiledevice is in navigation mode; combine a first ETA from the user'scurrent location to the POI with a second ETA from the POI user'scurrent location to the reference point; compare the combined ETA with areference ETA from the user's current location to the reference point;and compute the detour cost based on how much the combined ETA exceedsthe reference ETA.
 12. The mobile navigation system as in claim 5,further comprising: wherein the single unified ranking algorithm isbased on one or more other ranking factors, including any one or more ofa popularity, reviews, ratings and type of the POI, the type of the POIincluding any one or more of a gas station, a restaurant, a store, ahotel and other points of interest encountered while traveling.
 13. Atleast one computer-readable non-transitory storage medium includinginstructions that, when executed on a processing system, cause theprocessing system to: determine a route being followed by a user of themobile device, the route represented in a navigation applicationoperating on the mobile device, wherein the navigation application isoperating a non-navigation mode with no destination entry by the userand wherein the route is determined based on a moving direction of theuser; set a reference point for the route, wherein the reference pointis a point other than a route departure point of the route; identify oneor more points of interest (POIs) having estimated time of arrival ETAsignals comparable to the route being followed based on the referencepoint and the user's current location; compute a detour cost associatedwith each of the one or more identified POIs, wherein the detour cost iscomputed using the reference point; include the detour cost as a rankingsignal when re-ranking the one or more POIs using a single unifiedranking algorithm; and present to the user of the mobile device the oneor more ranked POIs and associated detour costs.
 14. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13, theinstructions further causing the processing system to: set the referencepoint for the route being followed to a historical location of the userwhen operating in non-navigation mode; and set the reference point forthe route being followed to a destination location of the user whenoperating in navigation mode.
 15. The at least one computer-readablenon-transitory storage medium of claim 14, wherein to set the referencepoint for the route being followed to a historical location of the userincludes instructions causing the processing system to: obtain a set ofprior locations of the user; determine the route being followed by theuser based on the set of prior locations and the user's currentlocation; identify any one or more deviation points in the route beingfollowed by the user within the set of prior locations; select from theset of prior locations a historical location that precedes at least oneof the identified deviation points; and set the reference point for theroute being followed to the historical location.
 16. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13, theinstructions further causing the processing system to: determine thatthe navigation application operating on the mobile device is innavigation mode after operating in the non-navigation mode; determinethe route being followed by the user of the mobile device based on apredetermined route for navigating to a known destination; and set thereference point to the known destination.
 17. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13, wherein toidentify one or more points of interest (POIs) having estimated time ofarrival ETA signals comparable to the route being followed includesinstructions further causing the processing system to: partition theroute being followed by the user into segments based on deviation pointsin the route; compute all possible routes from and to the user's currentlocation and each identified POI, skipping no more than two segments ofthe route being followed; determine shortest routes to each POI; andidentify which of the shortest routes have ETA signals comparable to theETA signal of the route being followed.
 18. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13, wherein tocompute the detour cost based on the ETA signal for the POI includesinstructions further causing the processing system to: combine a firstETA from the reference point to the user's current location with asecond ETA from the user's current location to the POI; compare thecombined ETA with a reference ETA from the reference point to the POI;and compute the detour cost based on how much the combined ETA exceedsthe reference ETA.
 19. The at least one computer-readable non-transitorystorage medium of claim 13, wherein to compute the detour cost based onthe ETA signal for the POI includes instructions further causing theprocessing system to: determine that the navigation applicationoperating on the mobile device is in navigation mode; combine a firstETA from the user's current location to the POI with a second ETA fromthe POI user's current location to the reference point; compare thecombined ETA with a reference ETA from the user's current location tothe reference point; and compute the detour cost based on how much thecombined ETA exceeds the reference ETA.
 20. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13, wherein thesingle unified ranking algorithm is based on one or more other rankingfactors, including any one or more of a popularity, reviews, ratings andtype of the POI, the type of the POI including any one or more of a gasstation, a restaurant, a store, a hotel and other points of interestencountered while traveling.
 21. The computer-implemented method as inclaim 1, wherein the reference point is a point other than a routedestination point of the route.
 22. At least one computer-readablenon-transitory storage medium including instructions that, when executedon a processing system, cause the processing system to: determine aroute being followed by a user of the mobile device, the routerepresented in a navigation application operating on the mobile device;set a reference point for the route, wherein the reference point is apoint other than a route departure point of the route and the referencepoint includes a prior location earlier in a journey of the user to acurrent location of the user; identify one or more points of interest(POIs) having estimated time of arrival ETA signals comparable to theroute being followed based on the reference point and the currentlocation of the user; compute a detour cost associated with each of theone or more identified POIs, wherein the detour cost is computed usingthe reference point, wherein the reference point is a point other than aroute departure point of the route; include the detour cost as a rankingsignal when re-ranking the one or more POIs using a single unifiedranking algorithm; and present to the user of the mobile device the oneor more ranked POIs and associated detour costs.
 23. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 22, theinstructions further causing the processing system to: determine thatthe navigation application operating on the mobile device is innon-navigation mode; set the reference point for the route beingfollowed to a historical location of the user when operating innon-navigation mode; and set the reference point for the route beingfollowed to a destination location of the user when operating innavigation mode.
 24. The at least one computer-readable non-transitorystorage medium of claim 23, wherein to set the reference point for theroute being followed to a historical location of the user includesinstructions causing the processing system to: obtain a set of priorlocations of the user; determine the route being followed by the userbased on the set of prior locations and the user's current location;identify any one or more deviation points in the route being followed bythe user within the set of prior locations; select from the set of priorlocations a historical location that precedes at least one of theidentified deviation points; and set the reference point for the routebeing followed to the historical location.
 25. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 22, theinstructions further causing the processing system to: determine thatthe navigation application operating on the mobile device is innavigation mode; determine the route being followed by the user of themobile device based on a predetermined route for navigating to a knowndestination; and set the reference point to the known destination. 26.The at least one computer-readable non-transitory storage medium ofclaim 22, wherein to identify one or more points of interest (POIs)having estimated time of arrival ETA signals comparable to the routebeing followed includes instructions further causing the processingsystem to: partition the route being followed by the user into segmentsbased on deviation points in the route; compute all possible routes fromand to the user's current location and each identified POI, skipping nomore than two segments of the route being followed; determine shortestroutes to each POI; and identify which of the shortest routes have ETAsignals comparable to the ETA signal of the route being followed. 27.The at least one computer-readable non-transitory storage medium ofclaim 22, wherein to compute the detour cost based on the ETA signal forthe POI includes instructions further causing the processing system to:determine that the navigation application operating on the mobile deviceis in non-navigation mode; combine a first ETA from the reference pointto the user's current location with a second ETA from the user's currentlocation to the POI; compare the combined ETA with a reference ETA fromthe reference point to the POI; and compute the detour cost based on howmuch the combined ETA exceeds the reference ETA.
 28. The at least onecomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 22, wherein tocompute the detour cost based on the ETA signal for the POI includesinstructions further causing the processing system to: determine thatthe navigation application operating on the mobile device is innavigation mode; combine a first ETA from the user's current location tothe POI with a second ETA from the POI user's current location to thereference point; compare the combined ETA with a reference ETA from theuser's current location to the reference point; and compute the detourcost based on how much the combined ETA exceeds the reference ETA. 29.The at least one computer-readable non-transitory storage medium ofclaim 22, wherein the single unified ranking algorithm is based on oneor more other ranking factors, including any one or more of apopularity, reviews, ratings and type of the POI, the type of the POIincluding any one or more of a gas station, a restaurant, a store, ahotel and other points of interest encountered while traveling.